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DESIGNER SECRETS FOR ROOMS THAT STAY IN STYLE

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Designers have trade secrets. They know decorating is a process that is never really done. But they also know lots of tips and sage advice for creating beautiful rooms. So today I’m sharing designer secrets for rooms that stay in style and look great for a long time!

Today is Practically Speaking were we tackle decor issues straight on!

Today it’s about keeping our homes in style and beautiful using designer secrets! And here are my favorite designer tips to use in your home!

Designers LOVE style and magazines are filled with gorgeous rooms done in breathtaking colors with plush furniture adorned with high end and expensive fabrics. Everything in those magazine worthy rooms ooze expensive style. But let’s be honest most of us can’t afford many of the things in those gorgeous rooms and they are not practical for our everyday lifestyles! If you are like me you too love almost every single designer room you see. But the tough reality is they just aren’t that practical!

There has to be a way to decorate a room so it can look beautiful, stay within budget, be updated and welcoming and look fresh and relevant for years. Or is this just wishing on a star?

Actually, there are smart way to do just that! It’s not rocket science but a lot of common sense, compromise and a reality check!

We can’t be pie-in-the-sky when it comes to decorating. Decorating is work! We must more often than not compromise on the things we wish we could have in our homes. The hard reality is many of us settle must for what we can afford! I said this is Practically Speaking! But that does not mean we can’t live beautifully! And be surronded by a lovely home.

Our goal as homemakers (oh, is that politically incorrect now?) is to create a warm, clean, welcoming sanctuary for our families and have a place we can share fellowship with others too! And most of us like to do it in style! Our style!

Here are some savvy ways to keep your home looking and feeling its decorated best straight from the pro’s!

PAINT EVERYTHING NEUTRAL

I know you hear me talk about my LOVE for painting! Painting the walls, ceilings, woodworks, floors and just about everything in my home. So you must know how important I think it is to keep your home clean and fresh with paint. A paintbrush is your magic wand and paint the magic pixie dust!

But have you thought about painting your home with neutrals? Soft whites, just-a-hint-of-color beige, a warm-tone gray, an earthy camel?

This will update your home like nothing else! Decide on a color palette for the walls and woodwork in your home and get busy.

Designers know how light neutral walls are the perfect foil for all your furnishings and accents. Even if you love color neutral walls will enhance the colorful things you have.

The master bedroom is painted SIMPLY WHITE by Benjamin Moore. Both walls and woodwork. And oh how I want to paint the floors white too!

KEEP HIGH TICKET ITEMS CLASSIC AND NEUTRAL

As I were thinking about how we wanted our bedroom to be decorated I knew that I did not want to replace expensive pieces of furniture often. So I employed a very wise decorator tip.

You will want to keep the furniture that costs the most in your home looking on trend and guarded, to some degree, from looking dated. The design professionals know traditional and classic furniture lines are the way to go! They stay in style longer! And other more on trend furnishing go splendidly with classic furniture! Neutral furniture is timeless and works with almost anything you put with it!

And here my best advice…

Only spend as much as the years you are willing to live with something.

What I mean by this is if you only want to live with a headboard for five years spend only enough for it so at the end of five years you are willing to let it go if you want and get a something new. Save the money you would have spent on something more expensive and when your headboard’s expiration date is up you can get another.

I’ve talked to too many friends, clients, and readers who have very beautiful yet dated expensive furniture. They are very hesitant to replace, it even though they don’t like it because they paid a lot for it! This makes me heartsick! I know, I did that too and I vowed when I let go of my old furniture I would not every do that again!

Let’s face it, styles change and so do we. You don’t have the same hairstyle and clothes you did in high school, right? Right? Things wear out and we get tired of the same old same old!

Times have changed and we should not keep the same furnishings for our adult lives unless we really, really want to.

KEEP YOUR HOME TRENDY WITH ACCENTS

Designers have lots of secrets for keeping a home looking up to date. And we need to use those secrets in our homes.

One thing I do I picked up from the decorating pros is to change up the accents in my home. I have a different philosophy about accent items.

I don’t spend a lot on things like paintings and pricy pottery. It’s okay by me to use baskets on my walls instead of art and fool-the-eye downright cheap pottery or bargain store picture frames and other small items. When I’m tired of them or feel like my style might be changing I can remove what I have and add a few new things! And have no guilt at all!

THE HIGH AND LOW MIX

Now, here’s my favorite designer secret. This is my trademark move!

Invest in what can’t be faked and fake the rest!

I call this the High/Low mix and it works wonders!

Here’s an example… the fuzzy white long pillow on my bed cost more than the headboard!

I just could not find a less expensive version of the Mongolian pillow. This pillow was worth investing in (although it was not too very expensive). I did buy a long faux Mongolian pillow for the bed but it did not pass muster! It did not have the high-end look I was after. So I returned it and bit the bullet for the real deal. The Mongolian pillow is the centerpiece of the bed. This pillow would bring a high-end look to any bed or sofa in my home. And I’m sure you will see it in different StoneGable rooms if you are a regular reader!

There are so many padded headboards on the market I opted for a very reasonably priced one with great tufting detail! No one will ever know the headboard is not designer but you and me!

Just don’t think of pairing more costly items with cheaper ones. Think about finding a “look alike”! Look for home decor items that mimic their more expensive cousins!

Mix refined “high” items with more rustic or “low” things! This look is my signature. I love high end mixed with a touch of chippy or rustic texture. My home’s decor is all about juxtaposition.

Here are a few other designer secrets for your home

  • don’t neglect replacing furnishings and accents as they get worn out, look tired or out of date. It’s easier to be doing a little bit continually tha have to makeover an entire room all at once. And a lot less money in the long run!
  • don’t fill your rooms with lots of furniture and collectables. A well curate room looks fresher and more up to date- remember less is more
  • if you have wall to wall carpeting layer an updated rug over it
  • paint dated wood furniture
  • so many people hold onto furniture they don’t really love because decades ago they paid a lot of $$$ for it- change out pieces a few at a time
  • use lots of texture instead of color- this look lasts longer
  • no matter what decorators say YOU have the final say! Live with what you love and work for you and your family!

Get started! Work towards creating rooms in your home that look beautiful and up to date for years to come!

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Comments

  1. Hi Yvonne! I love the posts of your beautiful rooms and have been an admirer for a long time. I especially love the rug and fabric on the settee. Would you mind sharing the fabric info?

    Reply

  2. Fantastic advice! I’ve been following you for a while now but I just had to comment on this post since you hit out of the park! Love the idea of mixing high/low, light neutral walls, and investing wisely in a few traditional pieces! I don’t love the decorator blogs that are like, “look at this beautiful eye candy I did.” You share the secrets and empower real women with real budgets to make their homes special! Thank you so much for your blog <3

    Reply

  3. Yvonne,
    Thank you for all of your great advice. A few months ago, I realized I actually hated everything in my living room and wanted new furniture. Once I decided what I wanted, I had no idea what to do to make my house feel right to me, and welcoming to guests. I don’t believe I’ve ever had such a difficult time pulling a room together in the past. I have finally gotten my living/dining room combo looking more like I want them, but it is a constantly evolving process. Thank you for your great advice about being patient during the decorating process, and being patient with a perfectly imperfect home. You saved my sanity!

    Reply

  4. Yvonne, what a wonderful post! You are spot on when it comes to pairing refined “high” end items with “lower” end times to create a fresh look. It makes it affordable for everyone to create a beautiful home! Thank you for your informative posts! I so enjoy all the information you share!!!

    Reply

  6. I really love your post. You give very good information which I am trying to follow. As I change out different things in my home, I am going neutral. I love it! Thanks so much for such good advice.

    Reply

  8. The bedroom is lovely and timeless. All the neutral colors and textures are just perfect. Thank you for sharing. Jean

    Reply

  9. Hi, Yvonne! This post is timely and on point! My husband and I purchased high quality, very well made coffee table, sofa tables and a lamp table in 1987 when we built our first house. We built our second house and moved this furniture with us. We have replaced everything twice, except for these tables. They are Lane, and they just don’t make them like they used to! The pickled oak had faded and yellowed from the sun, and looked so bad…So, I took action! Annie Sloan chalk paint is my new best friend! I have beautiful, solid REAL wood furniture that is updated and fabulous! I couldn’t be happier, and the money saved by not replacing these durable and now timeless pieces will afford us other updates to our living spaces. THanks for being a strong proponent of painting furniture…it truly can transform everything!

    Blessings,
    ❤️Beth

    Reply

  10. Yvonne,
    Love the splurge of the real Mongolian lumbar pillow and would love to add that to my bed as you have done. Can you share where you found it? I found great 20″ square ones at (of all places!) Costco for a steal but I really want the simplicity of the long lumbar style instead. Thanks for sharing your finds!

    Reply

  11. After reading this article I feel much better about mixing “knock-offs” with my nicer pieces. I read that you had replaced your beautiful oriental rug with the lovely one that you have now in the dining room and it is perfect. I still have my oriental rug that was an “investment” laying under my new restoration hardware-style table and it is so not my style anymore. I appreciate your suggestions about letting go of things that don’t work for us any longer and so I am going to roll up the rug and haul it to the attic. It will be a challenge finding a replacement but I guess I’m up for it!! Thank you for opening up your beautiful home and sharing your tricks for decorating stylishly. XOXO

    Reply

    • Beth, YOU GO GIRL!!!! I love that you were brave and painted still good but tired pieces in your home! And maybe your story will make others brave enough to do that too.
      Next time you paint use Amy Howard’s A Maker Studio Rescue and
      Restore paints. You won’t believe how smooth they are and they smell like Vanilla!

      Reply

  12. Your bedroom is lovely.The neutral pallet is so light, airy and tranquil.I especially like the window treatments and bedskirt.

    Reply

  13. Good morning! This room is so lovely to look at. I’m thinking of painting our bedroom but talking my husband into any shade of white will take a lot of doing. It is a very small room, houses in the 60’s were generally meant for a double bed, and to complicate matters I have two walls of windows. Originally the windows were small and wide but well over my head so that I could not see outside. It was like being in a prison! So my bed is up against windows that are over 100” wide. While I know it’s not in style anymore, I do have drapes over sheers for both privacy and decor. I managed to replace my four poster bed with an iron bed frame that has soft lines and lets light show through but I’m stuck with cherry bureaus. I don’t know if I can ever bring myself to paint them when I think of what they cost, but they have virtually no resale value. Right now I have severe armoire envy!
    I think I will need to take your advice and start an idea board before tackling anything. Oddly enough the one thing I think I’ll keep are my drapes. I have paired one pair of bottle green drapes with a pair of printed drapes in each window. The fabric in the printed drapes also covers a wing chair set in the corner for reading. I see the predominant color as an olive/bottle green. My walls are currently this color which is really unattractive but I hesitate changing to white because my bedding is white. I wonder if I was to paint my bureaus, what color would I use as a base? A light blue comes to mind or a shade of gray. I want something that will look more on trend but do not want white. Sorry to go on and on, it’s just that you make this look so easy when it is really quite difficult!

    Reply

    • Margo, every room has its own difficulties for sure! My bedroom was not easy at all! Lots of decisions. I let go of a mahogany rice carved bed and an oriental rug. There are so many weird but interesting angles in my bedroom and very limited places to put a bed.
      I had a few decorating bloopers that I’ll share later.
      Margo, remember that decorating is a process! Like any project, it takes time. Don’t look at these things as issues or problems look at them as a way to get to a room you love!

      Reply

    • Cecilia, I have several good orientals in the basement and I can’t give them away to my kids. I am saving one for another bedroom makeover. It’s a tribal design and red. LOVE it!!! So I’ll put it over a sisal rug. LOVE the way you think!

      Reply

  14. I enjoy your blog and love your style! Can you tell me about the rug in this post as well as in the post about the round coffee table?

    Reply

    • The rug is a new purchase. It was originally in the living room but after living with it I decided it would work better in the bedroom. Sometimes you just know a piece belongs in your home and this one was it for me. Can you believe it’s an indoor/outdoor rug? I found it at Ballard Designs.

      Reply

  15. Will you post “Get the Look” for your bedroom?
    I love the baskets hung above the bed.
    Love all your posts. I’m learning so much.
    I’m signed up for your Decorating Class. Can’t wait!

    Reply

  16. This room is beautiful! I’m with the other posters, can you please share get the look for the bedside wall lamps?

    Reply

  19. Oh Yvonne, that armoire is just gorgeous. Can you share the brand of where you got it. I just love it. What light it brings to this room. Everything about this room is spot on.

    Reply

  20. Beautiful room, Yvonne! Could you tell us how you keep your room dark at night? I noticed you don’t have any kind of shades etc. and very open weave curtains. And by the way, did you make your curtains and bedskirt and what kind of fabric is that? Love it!

    Reply

    • I don’t have shades right now. We live in the country and have no street lamps or cars. So we pull our curtains shut. I love the soft sun coming in the room in the morning waking me up! But things may change.
      Hope this helps.

      Reply

  21. I love getting your emails and have learned so much from you. This may be your best article yet Yvonne! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply